CALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS
Educational Courage: Resisting the
Ambush of Public Education
This volume will present an engaging collection of personal narratives, poems,
analyses and short stories that will highlight the dramatic changes in public
education since the No Child Left Behind Act. It will bring home to both
educators and lay persons alike the effects of the umbrella of current
educational policies that attempt to ambush public education –-- such as
vouchers, charter schools, merit pay, increased corporate involvement (of which
standardized testing is a part) --- on students, teachers, parents, and on
schooling in a democratic society. At the same time the book will focus on
voices of hope and possibility. It will highlight how many courageous and
creative people have concurrently both resisted the debilitating aspects of NCLB
while at the same time worked within its parameters to educate young people in
effective and meaningful ways. The voices of the contributors will present the
“human side” of the consequences of NCLB, motivating readers to see through the
rhetoric supporting the policy and act to make a difference.
The sections of the book include:
A. Introduction
B. “Is this what we call ‘education’”?
In this section, we will hear the voices of educators, parents and students
about their experiences of school, and of teaching and learning, since the
implementation of NCLB and other ambushing policies. They will describe how
their teaching and classroom lives have changed with the emphasis on high-stakes
testing and standardized assessment. Particular attention will be given to the
effects of these policies on the values of democracy and the principles of
locally-controlled schooling.
C “I Won’t Be a Part of This” : Educators, Parents, Students and Community
Members Resist
This section will include narratives
of educators, both teachers and administrators, who have resisted the
limitations of NCLB and minimized the negative effects of testing on themselves,
their students and their schools or who have organized political actions. Many
of these educators have spoken out against NCLB and educated others about its
negative effects while concurrently educating creatively within its confines. In
addition to educators, and often working with them, students, parents and other
community members have raised their voice about the negative consequences of
NCLB and organized to foster greater awareness to challenge current policies and
practices. Whether it is a student refusing to take a test, parents testifying
at public hearings or coalitions of groups marching at the state capital,
narratives of such diverse people resisting the increased standardization of
schooling will be presented.
D. Resisting by Working in the Cracks: Creating Spaces to Teach Authentically
Here, teachers who resist NCLB by integrating intellectual, social and emotional
learning in their work, despite the current educational context, will share
their practices. Accounts of experienced teachers who know that schooling can be
different from current test-driven educational contexts will be presented.
In addition voices of new teachers, burdened early in their teaching careers by
the standardizing expectations of NCLB, will be heard. Even when shouldered with
these constraints, they describe ways they’re learning to resist, for example by
infusing their teaching with multiculturalism or taking time to latch onto
“teachable moments” to respond to student concerns. Also included will be
accounts of the ways teacher educators and other mentors have helped new
teachers learn to both teach under NCLB and work collectively to challenge these
limitations.
E. “Not My Voice Alone”: Organizing to Reclaim Public Education:
This final section will include voices of those with experiences and ideas for
organizing resistance to the politics of ambush as we move into the future.
Approaches that are collective and resistance which occurs in public contexts
will be represented. The book will conclude with a strong focus on ways to act
together for progressive, multicultural, democratic schools.
If you wish to contribute to this
volume please briefly describe what you would like to write about and contact:
Nancy Schniedewind, Educational Studies Department
State University of New York, New Paltz, NY, 12561
845 257-2827, schniedn@newpaltz.edu
and
Mara Sapon-Shevin, Syracuse University
317 443-5088, msaponsh@syr.edu
Deadline for submission of proposals is Sept. 1, 2008. We welcome earlier
submissions. Deadline for pieces is November 1, 2008.
